DCU oneshots
by bookwormwithanattitude
Summary: Batgirl meets Manhunter! Wonder Woman introduces Achilles to Washington! Kate Spencer and Kate Kane collide! Cassandra and Stephanie mentor Misfit! Just some short DCU oneshots I wrote for help haiti.
1. Killing Time

** A/n: All of these are short ficlets I was prompted to write for the help_haiti project. The first three were for vengefulacorn and the fourth was for parsimonia.  
**

Stephanie was pinned to the ground and losing air fast. She could feel his scaly hands crushing her windpipe, see his reptilian grin slipping in and out of focus and feel his hot, swamp-smelling breath against her skin…but it was like it was happening to someone else. Some part of her was separate, detached, and it was telling her urgently she just needed a second to get her bearings so she could beat this guy. What she needed to do was something to buy herself that second.

Her numb fingers scrambled at her utility belt, and she finally pulled out an electric batarang. She sank the point into Croc's scaly flesh, flipping the switch. The shock only seemed to annoy him. But he did loosen his grip slightly with an annoyed grunt, and she was able to scramble out from under him. She had to think fast about what to do next, because he looked angry…

But before her vision even cleared, a flash of red and silver seemed to descend upon her opponent. There was a tearing sound of metal on skin as clawed gloves slashed Croc, actually gashing open his tough hide so that dark blood spilled onto the darker street. Croc howled in pain as a silver staff clubbed him around the head. It gave a burst of white light that had far more effect than a batarang. The monster dropped to the ground as the woman hit him again, and he remain there, still and silent.

"Are you okay, kid?" the brunette in red asked, turning around with some concern. She knelt down to Steph and offered her a helping hand. "Batgirl, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was nothing," Steph assured her in what she hoped was a tough and experienced sort of way. She took the hand and stumbled up dizzily. "Um, thanks. You're Manhunter, right?" She questioned, while massaging her bruised throat. "You work with Oracle?"

Manhunter smiled slightly. "Occasionally. Are you going to mind if I kill this loser?" She jerked her thumb at Croc.

"Oh…well, maybe. Possibly. Oracle probably would," Steph stammered.

"Oracle gave me her blessing, if that's what it was," said Kate dismissively. "But I'm not going to kill anyone in front of a kid."

"I'm a legal adult!" Steph protested angrily, her hands on her hips. Kate ignored her as she bent down to cuff Croc with some impressive looking technology.

"I'll just have to save _you _for later," the woman said grimly to the unconscious mutant. "And it will remind me oh-so-pleasantly of my first mission."

"Want to help me lug him to the police station?" Manhunter asked Steph casually, straightening up.

"Oh…sure," Steph answered, hurrying to help.

Lugging the massive form was not easy, but the police station was only a few blocks away. They trudged for a few moment in silence before Stephanie awkwardly said "I, uh, like your costume..."

Manhunter smiled again. "Thanks. Yours isn't bad either. So, did Oracle take the night off, or is she hissing in your ear about me this very minute?"

"No, she's out doing stuff. I told her I could swing it on my own tonight. So much for that," Steph mumbled.

"Hey, you were doing well. I just figured you wouldn't mind the help," Kate said firmly.

"Thanks. I…" Steph flushed. "Well, I admire what you're doing a little. I mean, when I first started this, I wanted to kill crooks too. It was out of anger, mostly. But the one time I tried to kill a guy who was…who deserved it…I couldn't go through with it. And it cost me…a whole lot. But what you're doing… you kill out of duty and justice, and not for revenge or anger. And I'm glad…I'm glad you can do what the rest of us can't." She looked down at her slowly moving feet, embarrassed that she had actually said all that.

Manhunter actually stopped in the middle of street, and turned to look at Stephanie. She put a gentle hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Not being able to kill doesn't mean you're weaker than me. Just different…I do what I do because it feels right and because I believe the law needs help. You help people every day and you give them hope. That's what this is really all about. We all help in our own way."

Stephanie beamed at her and Kate laughed. "You Bat-people, honestly. You're full of surprises."

They started walking again, dragging the load of criminal behind them at a slow pace. Finally, they reached the police station and dropped their hostage at the front.

"I'd better go," Manhunter said quickly, looking left and right down the dank street. "Don't want to be spotted by a cop. Keep doing your best, Batgirl. Don't let anyone get you down."

"Yeah…" Steph whispered after the woman as she disappeared into the dark. "You too."


	2. Settling In

A/N: The prompt for this one was something to do with Wonder Woman and Achilles.

**Settling In**

"So, you're telling me that the crazy Achilles kid tried to kill ya, but you reformed him simply by being your wonderful self?" Etta Candy queried to her best friend Diana as she examined her own wardrobe critically. Diana was perched on Etta's massive king sized bed.

"It's not quite that simple," Diana said, her mouth quirking slightly, but she quickly became stern. "Are you _sure _you should be up and about, Etta? The doctor did prescribe bedrest."

"Now don't _you _of all people lecture me about that!" Etta scoffed, jerking out a couple shirts. "Anyway, I swear, Diana, since the secret agent thing's not working out, you should try a prison counselor. You'd have half the population reformed in no time. Red or black, do ya think?" She asked her friend, comparing the shirts.

"You'd look lovely in both, but the red reflects your own bright and vibrant demeanor," Diana said loyally.

"But black is slimming!" Etta pouted playfully. "This, of course, means red it is!"

She yanked the shirt on and swung her purse up on her shoulder as Diana leapt lightly off the bed. "I can't believe we're going apartment hunting with a reanimated ancient warrior…who isn't your mother."

"Achilles needs help settling in," Diana said cheerfully as they exited Etta's apartment. "He wants to help me bring peace to the world and leave my mother to do the ruling. I welcome his aid, even if he is a little…headstrong."

"Honey, _you're _headstrong. Achilles sounds like he's a bit more than that. But I'm sure we can help him adjust. Just know that it's probably gonna be difficult. You adapted easier than most to modern life, but Achilles doesn't have the benefit of the wisdom of Athena on his side," Etta reminded the princess. "It may take him a while to get…"

"Housebroken?" Diana finished slyly.

"Exactly."

Just then, the two women spotted Achilles standing awkwardly on the corner of the road…muscular, blonde…and in full battle dress.

"He rocks your look," Etta noted.

"Hera. Perhaps some clothes shopping is in order before we visit the apartment," Diana suggested. "Good day, Achilles! How do you find the city?"

"It looks the same as it did last time I was here. There is a lot of gray," the man answered.

Diana nodded. "See that building over there? We are going to find you some new garments."

"But I like these," Achilles protested as Diana and Etta dragged him towards the mall.

"They stick out a bit," Diana said firmly.

An hour later, the three of them exited the store, Achilles wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and Diana carrying several shopping bags with one hand.

He couldn't seem to stop himself form adjusting the seat of his pants, "Don't do that," Etta admonished.

"I am not used to these…trouser…things…" Achilles muttered.

"You can always take 'em off," Etta responded, waggling her eyebrows.

"Etta," Diana warned idly without looking up from the sheet of paper she was examining. "The apartment I discovered is a few blocks away. I think you'll like it, Warkiller."

The apartment Diana has procured was a modestly sized brownstone, but it was clean and well stocked with shiny wooden floors.

"Is there not land for a man to farm or hunt in?" Achilles asked quizzically, examining the crowded street out the window of the place.

"You don't need that in Washington," Etta assured him.

"Well, it is decent living space and the bed is large. Plenty of room for Patroclus," Achilles relented.

"Zeus resurrected Patroclus as well?" Diana said in astonishment. "I never saw him in battle!"

Achilles snorted. "As if I'm going to let that fool fight after what happened to him last time."

"So you guys are…" Etta said slowly. "Ha, I knew it! And my college Humanities teacher told me I was reading too much into it!"

Before Achilles could ask what she meant, there was a thundering crash outside. Diana rushed to the window, her two friends not far behind her.

"Giganta's making some noise," Diana sighed. "She probably just wants my attention. Etta, would you mind showing Achilles around?"

"No problem," Etta said but Achilles interrupted her. "I shall fight by your side, Diana!"

"Noble Achilles, I thank you , but I want you to have a peaceful first day in this world, and you really should familiarize yourself with the city. Besides, I doubt there will be fighting. Giganta and I will likely just talk about what is troubling her."

"Talk?" Achilles asked quizzically as Diana shed her clothes to reveal her star spangled uniform.

"We call it "girl talk" here in Man's World," Etta said cheerfully as Wonder Woman flew out the window. "C'mon, macho man, let's paint the town red!"

***

Several hours later, Achilles and Etta got back to the apartment.

"There you are!" Wonder Woman exclaimed, jumping up from the couch. "Where have you been?"

"Familiarizing. How's Giganta?"

"Oh, fine now. She's having problems with the Atom again. We talked about it over linguini. I think we're making progress…what did you do to Achilles?" Diana stared at the warrior stumbled into a stray chair with an unfocused grin on his face

"Oh, I showed him a few bars. He had a little too much to drink," Etta replied casually.

"_Etta!_" Diana caught the man by the arm and guided him carefully to the couch, which he sank into gratefully.

"Don't worry, I was his bodyguard. No man or woman was able to take advantage of him in his weakened state," Etta said proudly. "He found the gay bars _fascinating, _though. From a cultural perspective."

Diana looked as if she was about to say something, but then changed her mind. "Well, Dionysus will be pounding on his skull tomorrow, but I doubt that's a new experience for him. " She grabbed a blanket from her shopping bags and threw in over the prone Olympian. "Good night, warrior. I'll see you tomorrow."

The two women turned to leave, Diana still shaking her head at Etta, who said "What? You told me to entertain and familiarize!"

As Diana turned off the light and locked the door behind her, Achilles snuggled deeper under than blanket she had given him, smiling peacefully.


	3. When Kates Collide!

A/N: This prompt was a meeting between the DCU's two Gotham-bound Kates, either femslash or gen. I went gen with just a hint of pre- femslashiness.

**When Kates Collide!**

The woman moved like lightning, clubbing thug after thug with her staff. She was brutal and efficient.

Batwoman gave a blood red smile. She liked this Manhunter.

But there was a man hunting the hunter, and this thug was coming up behind the ponytailed avenger as she relentlessly fought two other lackeys at once, his knife held high. Batwoman descended quickly, knocking out the creep with a kick to the back of the head. Manhunter spun, startled. "Who-?"

"Just a friend," Batwoman said, her pale skin practically shining in the dark alley. She couldn't help herself, she reached out and touched the startled hero's cheek lightly. "Helping a fellow soldier.

And then she sank into the darkness, her red symbol remaining etched in Manhunter's vision long before she was gone.

***

"Oof!"

"Sorry!" Kate Kane yelped, helping up the brown haired woman in a pantsuit she had just knocked over. "I was in a hurry. I'm late for a date!"

"Well, so am I!" Kate Spencer grumbled, dusting herself off.

"In that restaurant?" Kate Kane said, pointing to a dark green building with large windows and a black awning a few feet ahead of them. "That's where I'm going too!"

The woman certainly wasn't dressed for a date, Kate thought wryly. Wearing a crisp pantsuit, minimal makeup and her hair in a ponytail? It was like she was going to a business meeting.

The woman certainly wasn't dressed for a date, Kate thought irritably. All that heavy gothic makeup, she practically had raccoon eyes. Add that to the halter top and rockabilly tattoos…it was like she was going to a rave.

"I'm Kate Spencer," Kate admitted.

"Ah, the vicious DA," Kate smiled. "I'm a Kate too. Kate Kane."

"Ah, the irresponsible heiress," Kate rolled her eyes. "Who are you meeting here anyway? Isn't this a little lowgrade for your income?"

"Maggie Sawyer," Kate said cheerfully. She was impressed to see that no flicker of surprise crossed the DA's face. "And you?"

"Jim Gordon," Kate admitted. She was impressed to see the heiress nod approvingly.

"Cops," Kate Kane snorted. "They only know one restaurant."

"It's a step up from me, I just order take out," Kate said as they approached the glass double doors of the place. She spotted a silver mustache and smiled.

"Well, be seeing you, then," said Kate as they entered the building. She spotted a head of short blonde hair and smiled.

"See you."

The two Kates parted ways.

_There was something familiar about those garish red lips…_

_There was something familiar about that prissy ponytail…_

_Oh well. She'd figure it out later._


	4. PassFail

A/N: My last prompt. Cass and Steph hang out with Charlie.

**Pass/Fail**

"I can't believe Babs roped us into this," Stephanie grumbled.

"S'just training," Cass shrugged, flexing her fingers in preparation.

"Yeah, training a hyperactive teleporter," Steph scowled.

"What's your problem?" Cassandra asked curiously.

"Well, do you seriously want to spend all day training an overeager, inexperienced kid?"

"Done it before," Cass said slyly.

"That's what I- hey!"

Cass snickered just as the enthusiastic redhead literally bounced in. Stephanie made sure to give a pronounced sigh in Cass's general direction, but she was all smiles when she turned to Misfit.

"Heya, Charlie. Babs said we should take you out on a mission today."

"Cool!" Charlie chirped. Much to both of the older girls' surprise, she took Cassandra's hand and enthusiastically shook it. "You are, like, made of awesome. I always thought you were so cool. You're my favorite Batgirl after Babs! …And me."

"Oh…okay," Cass said in a stunned voice.

"I'm really glad you're not actually evil," Charlie told her. "And you!" she turned to Steph. "It's really awesome that you're not dead anymore!"

"Thanks, I think so too," Steph said, amused. "Well, we'd better get going."

Misfit bounced after the two girls into the bleak Gotham night.

"Okay, the first thing we're going over is rooftop jumping," Steph told the pupil as they climbed to the top of a building. "Believe me, Cass rocks at teaching this."

"But I can teleport…" Misfit said, confused.

"Yeah, but what if you lose you powers? And Babs told me you can't teleport if you're carrying someone, and you'll find you often have to drag around unconscious or panicked people in our business. Also, this helps with dexterity, whatever that means." Stephanie explained patiently.

Cass watched this display, impressed that Steph had changed so quickly to from exasperated complainer to friendly teacher. Then again, Steph had always been good at encouraging and relating to other people, which was the thing Cass envied about her friend the most.

"Okay, watch Cass's body…how she moves…how she pushes off. Then try it yourself. This is a short jump, we'll try the longer ones with a grapple. And don't worry- you fall, Cass will catch you. There may be dumpsters involved though," Steph laughed.

"Okay," Misfit said nervously, "Thanks for explaining stuff. I know it must be kinda annoying to train a rookie."

"Oh, not at all," Steph said with a smile that was a little too huge.

Cass rolled her eyes. "Watch me," she ordered the young girl.

And she jumped.

Halfway through the jump, she heard the gunshot.

She twisted around in midair but the bullet wasn't coming for her, it was coming for Steph and there was no way even she could get there in time…

But Misfit was there. She'd seen the gun barrel a second before the shot had sounded because she had been watching…and almost instinctively she seemed to teleport in front of the other girl. And Cass watched the bullet hit the girl in the chest and she watched her crumple and she didn't even notice she was plummeting…

She caught the ledge instinctively before she could splatter on the pavement, and ignoring the tearing pain in her arm, she vaulted back over the wall. Steph was leaning over the bleeding hero but Cass couldn't stop to check on her. She had to catch the sniper before a shot came again. She headed for where she'd heard the gunshot, clearing rooftops effortlessly.

The sniper was dressed in black, naturally, and he ran as soon as he saw her coming, naturally. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop almost as easily as she did. But just almost. She caught up with him in no time, and he stumbled on the ledge in his panic to get away from her. She caught him before he could fall to his death.

"Who are you?" she snarled. But she realized that was pointless. He had to be a hired gun, and one of the best, since he'd been able to get the drop on her. She changed the question. "Who do you work for?"

The man smiled. He was a skinny brunette and there was nothing all remarkable about his features. But when he smiled…it was chilling.

"I'm no one. But who I work for? He just wanted to send a message. A message to Oracle." The man's smile grew wider. "The Calculator sends his love."

Before Cass could reply, the man bit down of something. She could hear the crunch of a fizzing pill turning to powder and she cried "No!"

But it was too late. He was dead.

She dropped him, and ran back to her friends as fast as she could.

Stephanie was using her cape to stem the blood flowing from Charlie's wound. Cass watched the eggplant turn dark red helplessly, but Stephanie was pleading with Charlie through gritted teeth. "Charlie! You have to listen to me! Babs told me that you heal when you teleport, even from bullet wounds! I know you're weak, and I know you're in pain and I know you're dying- but that's the point, if you don't teleport right now, you will die! So get your ass in gear!"

Charlie's eyes were unfocused and blood was starting to bubble out her mouth. "Tel'port…can't…"

"Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe! If you don't teleport _right the hell now _I will tell Babs you _failed this lesson _and man will she be _pissed off at you!" _Steph shouted, her eyes flashing.

Charlie's blue eyes seemed to go as wide as saucers at this, and to Cass's utter amazement, the girl screwed up her face in agony and vanished in a flash of pink. She reappeared on Steph's other side, looking dazed and bloodstained but completely intact, and she was holding a bullet in her hand.

"Wouldn't want Babs to be pissed off," Charlie said hoarsely. "She gets kinda scary."

Stephanie embraced the girl, laughing and crying at the same time. Cass dropped to her knees beside them, smiling hugely.

"So, um, do I still fail the lesson?" Charlie asked hopefully, her voice muffled against Stephanie's bear hug.

"No," Cass said, putting her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "You definitely passed."


End file.
